Remorse of the Past
by Abigail Sykes
Summary: Flashback to when Joan is first involved with Arthur. What happens when Joan makes one mistake that she will regret for the rest of her life. How will it affect her and what does she finally decide to do to confront it? Will she ever really forgive herself or even stop being sad?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, I know that I just started a Covert Affairs fanfiction, but I thought of this idea and wanted to jump right on it. I like writing stories that shows another side of the character than just what we see on tv. I think that it adds dimension to the characters and shows their vulnerabilities, which helps make the characters relatable. I hope that you guys like this story and please review!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Covert Affairs

Joan was having a bad day. She was thinking back to when she started dating Arthur, when he was still married. She always felt that it was more romantic that their love life was secret, almost like it was too special to reveal to anybody else. It was theirs, it was nobody else's business to judge them, they were in love.

She had a flashback to one night, Arthur called his wife to tell her that something had happened at work and he had to stay late. She remembered him calling her into his office. At that time, her desk was with a bunch of others, similar to how Annie's is and Arthur having his own private office, as their boss.

She walked in and he told her to shut the door. At that time, there weren't any blinds, so he didn't have to worry. She remembered him pulling her close, wrapping his arms around her waist as he kissed her neck passionately. She moaned out in delight as she ran her fingers through his hair. He then moved to her lips.

He then started to unbutton her blouse to reveal her breasts. They had never gotten this far before, he had wanted to, but she said that they couldn't while he was still with his wife. She knew deep down that she desperately wanted this, even needed this, but didn't know how to ask him to leave his wife for her. She knew that if they couldn't be together, she would fall apart. He had been the best thing in her life.

She started to pull away, not allowing this to go any further, she had really wanted it, but she knew that it wasn't right. "Arthur," she said quietly. "I told you how I feel, I cannot do this, it isn't fair. You need to tell her."

"Baby, I will when it is the right time, I promise. I will find the right time to tell her as soon as I can, but I already called her to tell her that I had to stay at work late, so lets just enjoy ourselves. Okay?"

"Alright Arthur," she said. She knew that he needed to tell her, but she didn't want to push it. She wanted to be the only one in his life and he constantly told her that she was. He didn't love his wife, but he didn't know how to tell her.

"Come on baby, I am going to leave and I will meet you at our usual place." He kissed her again, "In about ten minutes, you can leave."

"I know the drill," she said sexily as she walked out. She knew that she had to enjoy their time together and she did. She loved him and was willing to do anything for him and if that meant that he couldn't tell her yet, then she was okay with it. She trusted him to do the right thing.

She went back to her desk and filled out some more paperwork as she saw him leave his office.

She did some more paperwork for about ten minutes before she said to her colleagues, "There is no way that I am finishing all of this tonight, I am going home and I will see you guys tomorrow."

They all said bye as she walked out.

She got into her car and drove onto the beltway to a little "Mom and Pop" place about thirty minutes from Langley. It was far enough away that nobody that they knew would be there, but close enough to go last minute.

When she got there, he was already sitting at a table waiting for her.

She sat down and he reached across the table to grab her hand. They ordered and ate, like they always did, while laughing and talking. They really did make an amazing couple. They completed each other.

At the end of dinner he was paying the bill and said, "Baby, you do trust me, don't you."

"Of course Arthur." She said.

"Then trust me to take care of you. We can do things even though my wife doesn't know. I love you and trust me, that will never change." He said. That was the first time that he had ever said that to her.

He was the only one that she ever let really love her emotionally. She let him in and trusted him with everything. She smiled, "I love you too."

They got up and walked to his car, his arm around her waist. He opened the passenger door for her and waited for her to get in before he shut it.

She got in and turned to her before saying, "Joan, are you positive that you want to do this?"

"Yes, I have never been more sure. I trust you, and if you say that you love me, then I believe you."

He kissed her. Arthur drove to a hotel about twenty minutes away from the restaurant. They checked into a room and went upstairs.

The second that they walked in, they were all over each other.

He grabbed her and kissed her as she unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the ground. She put her arms on his bare shoulders and continued to kiss him as she ran her fingers through his hair. He took her shirt off and threw it down by his shirt. She dropped her dress pants, never breaking the kiss.

He pushed her onto the bed, now only in her bra and underwear while he took off his belt and pants. He climbed on top of her and began to kiss her all over.

They continued their night until they were out of breath. She eventually fell asleep in his arms.

The next morning, he awoke in a startle. He looked over and Joan was still lying in his arms asleep.

He got up, careful not to wake her and realized that he was still naked. He put on his boxers and grabbed his phone, looking at the time. 10:30 am.

He quietly went into the bathroom and called his wife, she answered, "Hello."

"I am so sorry that I didn't call. I lost track of time and when I realized what time it was, I didn't want to call and wake you. I had to pull an all-nighter at the office."

"Oh, its ok, I understand."

"Okay, I'll see you when I get home," he said.

"Okay, bye." He hung up.

He then called the office. "Hello, this is Arthur Campbell. Will you please put me through to an agent in my division." They put him through. "I just wanted to let you know that I will not be coming in today. On a different note, Joan Welkin will not be coming in today either, she is on a private mission that I sent her on last night."

He walked out of the bathroom and Joan was just starting to wake up. "Good morning sleepyhead," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed, kissing the top of her head.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Good," she replied before flipping out, "Shit! What time is it?"

"10:45," he replied, getting back into bed with her.

"Seriously, shit, shit, shit, I need to go to work, and so do you."

"Nope, not today babe, I gave us both alibies." She said, while kissing her.

She smiled, he had promised to take care of her and he did. She was really lucky. Last night was amazing and she wanted him now all to herself even more.

They ordered room service and ate breakfast in bed. They didn't even do anything special, she just laid in his arms and they watched movies.

At the end of the day, she said, "You should go home to your wife, and I should get home too. I love you."

He knew that their special time together would have to end, but he really didn't want it to.

They both got dressed and checked out. They both got into his car and he drove her back to the restaurant to get her car. Before she got out, she said thank you for the amazing night and day and then kissed him. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said, winking at him, as she got out.

The next few weeks were like usual, the late meetings, the weekend calls, all excuses that he had for his wife, so that he could spend time with Joan.

About a month later she called him one morning and said, "Arthur, I cannot come to work today. I have never felt like this. I cannot stop throwing up and I feel like crap. I feel light-headed and nauseous. I called the doctor, I have an appointment in an hour."

"Of course, tell me what the doctor says." He paused, "Do you want me to come over?"

"Umm, I don't think that it's a great idea. I will call you when I leave the doctor."

Joan hung up the phone and went to get ready before making a beeline to the bathroom to throw up again.

She got dressed and made it to the doctor's office without having to stop. She checked in and sat down in the waiting room.

They called her back and she told them what was wrong. They did a bunch of tests. Finally the doctor came in and said, "I have the results. There is an answer." She paused, "The good news is that there is nothing wrong."

"Well then why do I feel like this?" Joan asked.

"This news is life changing." She paused again. Joan was growing impatient, "You are pregnant. Congratulations.

"I am what?!" Joan exclaimed. "I can't be, its not possible I- " she paused. It was possible, "How far along am I?" she asked.

"Lets do an ultrasound and we can find out."

Joan followed her into the room where she lied and the doctor put the jelly on her stomach. "That's your baby, you are definitely pregnant."

Joan looked up. "How could I have let this happen?" she asked herself.

"It looks like you are about a month along." Her thoughts were confirmed, it was Arthur's.

"Your baby is healthy, but you should pick up these prenatal vitamins and we should schedule another appointment for the second month." The doctor said, smiling at her.

She wiped the jelly off of her stomach and said thank you before going to the receptionist and making her next appointment.

From the car, she called Arthur. He answered and said, "Is everything okay."

She started to cry, "I need you right now, can you come over."

"Baby, of course, I am on my way."

She got home only a few minutes before he did.

He knocked on her door and she opened it, her eyes swollen from crying.

"What's wrong, what did the doctor say. Whatever it is, we can get through it."

They sat down on the couch, she needed to tell him.

**AN:** So, I hope that you guys like it. The story does take place in the present, but I needed to show the whole history in order for the story to make sense. How do you guys want Arthur to take it? Obviously, they don't have the baby now, so I was thinking either abortion or adoption. If it was adoption, she would probably tell everybody that her boyfriend got her pregnant. This way, if she wanted, she could still meet the child. I don't know exactly what I want to do yet completely, so any input would be amazing. Please review and tell me how I'm doing with the story and what you would like to read!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **I know that I haven't updated in a few days. I'm sorry. I hope that you guys like it and please review.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Covert Affairs

"Sweetheart, tell me what's wrong. What did the doctor say?" Arthur said leading her to the couch. By now, she was in full hysterics and this made him worried.

She took a minute to compose herself and said, "I-I'm pregnant."

Arthur looked stunned and took a minute to let it all sync in.

She was still crying and he held her closer. He finally said, "It's okay, we will get through this. Don't worry." He was just saying this to calm her down, he didn't really know what to do.

She finally calmed down and said, "What can we do? Your wife still doesn't know about us and in about eight months, we are going to have a child here."

"Well, if you want to keep the baby, then I will support you. I know that I need to tell my wife and I will. This is happening today and I want you to be there."

"Really?" she looked up to him in surprise, she thought this day would never come.

"Yes, but you need to think about whether or not you want to keep this baby. You will probably have to stop working for the CIA because having you in the field when there is a child at home that needs you is not okay. Are you even ready to have a child?"

"No, that's the thing, I feel bad about saying this and I hate myself for it," She started to cry again, he held her tighter, "But I don't want to have a child. I was never maternal and I don't even want children."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Maybe adoption. I am not sure. You hear about all of these stories where people cannot have children, so lets give them ours."

"I think that is a perfect idea. Do we come clean about us at work?"

"Let's wait to see what happens with your wife first."

"Okay." He said, kissing the top of her head.

Later that day, his wife came into his office.

"Hello Arthur. What was so urgent that this couldn't wait until you got hime?"

"Nice to see you too Gina. One moment, let me grab somebody." Arthur walked out of his office and went to get Joan. They both walked into his office and Arthur shut the door.

"Gina, I want to apologize to you." Arthur said as he sat down in his chair behind his desk. Gina sat down in the chair on the other side and Joan stood next to Arthur.

"For what? What is going on?"

"I have been unfaithful to you and I want to come clean."

Gina looked shocked, she didn't really have any emotions on her face, she was too mad to really be upset.

"With the blond?" Gina looked hurt more than anything.

"Joan." Arthur corrected, "and yes, I'm sorry."

"I'll have the divorce papers ready. Don't even bother coming to **my** house." Gina said as she walked out.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked Joan as he stood up and wrapped his arms around her.

PRESENT DAY

Joan was sitting at her desk and still thinking about what happened. She had told everybody that her boyfriend got her pregnant and that he was out of the picture.  
She gave birth to a baby boy on February 23rd, 2001. The baby would be 11, almost 12 now, not really a baby anymore. The Waltz family adopted him when he was two days old. Peter and Kari Waltz were a nice, young, happy couple that were very wealthy but could not have children. She knew that that they would take good care of him. They named him Aaron William Waltz. Aaron means strong and William means worrier.

She knew that at the time, it was the right thing to do, but it is the one thing in her life that she regrets deeply.

She walked out of her office and into Arthur's. "Arthur?"

"What's up?" He said as he looked up. He saw that her eyes were low, just like she was upset, but she wasn't crying. "What's wrong?"

"I was thinking about him again." She had been doing that a lot lately and had finally told Arthur about a week ago.

"I know, but sweetheart, there is nothing that we can do about it now. He is not ours and no matter how much you want him, you cannot have him."

"I know, but I want to at least meet him. I want to know my baby."

"He may have come out of you and he may have our traits, but he is not your baby."

"He will always be my baby." She snapped, "and I want to meet him."

"Okay, go back to work," he paused, "actually, why don't you go home, I'll try to get some information on them and maybe we can call them."

"I don't want to go home, I'll be in my office. Get the information and come get me."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

She walked into her office and shut the door. She sat down and put her head down on her desk. She massaged her own back as she tried to relax. When that didn't work, she went downstairs and got herself a cup of coffee and took a walk outside while drinking it.

When she was done, she walked back up to her office and Arthur was sitting there waiting for her with a manila folder in his hand.

"Is that their file?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, handing it to her.

"How did you get it so fast?" she asked opening it up.

"I had it put together a few days ago."

"They live here now?" Joan asked seeing that their address was in McLean, Virginia.

"Yes, they moved here about a year ago after Kari was offered a job."

"It says that Aaron goes to the Potomac School."

"Yes, they are a very reputable school."

"What if I go in to talk about the World Bank and maybe I will meet him. I obviously won't tell him who I am, I'll just meet him, like I will with the rest of the students."

"I think that that could work." Arthur said because the World Bank was her cover job.

The day continues and Joan and Arthur talk about Aaron a little bit more. Arthur and Joan make the plans and they are set to go for next Monday.

The rest of the week and the weekend were outrageously long for Joan, who was anxiously waiting for Monday.

Finally it was the day and time that she was to go to The Potomac School. She arrived and went into the office. They gave her a visitor's badge and walked her down to Mrs. Levee's classroom, Aaron's classroom.

She walked in scanned the room. She saw who she thought was Aaron. He had her light blond hair and Arthur's eyes. He had her nose and Arthur's mouth. Mrs. Levee told the students to put away their notebooks, and introduced Joan, "Students, this is Joan Crawford, she works at the World Bank in Washington, DC." She had given them a fake last name just in case Aaron's parents had told him her real name.

"Hello everybody." Joan said. They all responded back with hello before Joan continued, "Who has heard of the World Bank?" almost everybody raised their hand, she continued, "Does anybody actually know what we do at the World Bank?" almost everybody put their hand down.

Only one person still had their hand raised; it wasn't Aaron, "Yes, what is your name?"

"Zachary," he replied.

"Yes Zachary, what do you think that we do?"

"I am just taking a guess here." Joan nodded her approval at the fact that he was guessing and didn't actually know the answer, "You are in charge of all of the other banks?"

"Sorry, that is not correct. Anybody else?" Nobody else raised their hand. As she was about to continue, another boy raised his hand. "Yes, what is your name?"

"Aaron," replied the boy that she thought was him from the beginning.

She got a little nervous and replied, "Yes, what is it?"

"They are in charge of trying to demolish poverty and protect children from poverty related mortality and diseases that can come from poverty."

"You are exactly correct." She smiled, she had given birth to the smart child.

Throughout her entire talk, she had tried to scan the room, but couldn't help but mainly focus on Aaron. He seemed the most interested in the class and she wanted to be sure to talk to him after they were finished. She continued to talk all the way up to when the lunch bell rang. All of the students rushed out, except for Aaron. He stayed and walked up to Joan.

"May I ask you a question?" he asked Joan.

"Of course." Joan responded.

"Do you know Joan Campbell?"

Her heart started to beat really fast, but she slowed it down, the way that they had taught her on the farm.

"Umm." She paused and made it look like she was thinking, "I am not sure, I don't think so. Why?"

"Oh," he paused, "She is my biological mother. When my parents told me about her and my father and how she worked at the World Bank and he worked somewhere in McLean, I made them move here. I really want to meet them. If you ever meet her, will you please tell her to give me a call?" he asked handing her a piece of paper.

"Of course. How do your parents feel? Like, do they want you to meet them also?"

"They want me to be happy, and I have not been very happy lately. After I found out that I was adopted, I knew that I wouldn't be happy again until I at least meet them."

"Alright, you better get to lunch Aaron, I'll try to find a Joan Campbell when I get back to the office and I'll give this to her."

He said thank you and walked to lunch.

**AN: **I hope that you guys liked this. I don't know exactly what is going to happen now with all of this. I don't know how I want this to play out. I do know that I want Joan and Arthur to meet the parents again and have some sort of relationship with Aaron. Definitely not as parents, but maybe like an aunt and uncle. I'm not sure though. So, please review and tell me if you liked it and what exactly you want to see in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry I haven't written in awhile, so I tried to make up for it by writing a longer chapter. I hope that you like it! As always, please review!**

**(I put the wrong chapter up last night. I'm sorry if there was any confusion. Thank you to the guest review that put this to my attention.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cover Affairs**

"Arthur," Joan said as she walked into his office.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Arthur asked taking off his reading glasses as he looked up from the file on his desk.

Joan shut the door and walked towards him. She sat down on one of the chairs facing his desk. "Umm," she paused looking down. She started again, "He knows about me at least. He asked me to give this to Joan Campbell."

Joan handed the note to Arthur. He opened it and looked at it for awhile. "What do you want to do?" Arthur asked.

"I want to know him." She said. She could feel the tears burning at the back of her eyes. "I don't want to ruin his life though."

Arthur stood up and walked towards Joan. He sat on the arm of the chair and put his hand on Joan's back. He rubbed up and down. "You will not ruin his life." He said looking down at her, "We will call his parents tonight. I want to talk to his parents before we say anything to him." Arthur said.

Joan nodded, "Okay."

Joan's head was in Arthur's lap.

"What's wrong?" Arthur said.

"I have a headache," Joan lied.

"Don't be nervous," Arthur said, reading her.

She smiled at the one person who knew her better than anybody else. Even through her spy training, Arthur could read her and see what was wrong instantly. That was one of the many reasons that she loved him.

She put her head back in Arthur's lap and continued to lay there until she heard a knock on his office door. She sat up as Arthur said, "Come in."

The door opened and Annie walked in, "Joan, I thought I could find you in here..." Annie looked up from the file and saw them sitting there, "I'm sorry, I can talk to you later." Annie said as she turned to leave.

"No, Annie, what's up?" Joan said standing up. Arthur also stood up and walked to the other side of his desk.

"We found that there were three other cell phones bought at the same time as the one that we have. Auggie has traced where the other three are. What do you want us to do?" Annie finished.

"Where is the location?" Joan asked.

"In DC, a couple of miles away from the DC boarder."

Joan thought for a moment. "I will be down in two minutes."

"Okay." Annie said spas she walked out.

"We'll deal with this when we get home."Arthur said. "Go deal with your case." Arthur kissed Joan's head.

"Okay. Can you be home early tonight? We'll eat dinner and then call?" Joan asked.

"Perfect. Dinner at 6:30?" Arthur asked.

"Perfect." She responded as she smiled and walked out.

Joan went back to her division and walked into Auggie's office. "Okay, so have they moved?"

"No, they are stationary in a vacant lot within a building of a shopping center. I am working off of the satellite and I am tracking their every move." Auggie replied.

"Okay," Joan said thinking. "Annie, why don't you do a drive by and assess the situation. Call me before you get involved in anything."

Annie nodded as she walked out.

Joan turned back to Auggie, "Continue to monitor the satellite. I want to know when Annie gets there and if they leave."

"You got it." Auggie said, "Joan?" Auggie said as she was walking out.

She stopped, turned around, and walked back over to Auggie, "Yes?"

"And I thought that you would nail me for tapping into the satellite." Auggie said as he smiled.

Joan smiled and put her hand on his arm, "Well maybe I will now."

They both laughed as she walked out.

She went back to her office and did a little more work. After a little bit, her phone rang. She answered, "Hello?"

"Joan, it's Auggie. Annie said that the situation looked a little risky and that it didn't look like they were moving any time soon. Actually, she heard the man say, in Portuguese, that they were planning to leave in a few weeks. She's still on the line, she wanted to know what you wanted her to do."

"Okay, tell her to wait until we have a better plan in place. It needs to wait until at least tomorrow, especially if she was close enough for her to hear them, then they probably saw her. We don't want to take the risk of them making her. Tell her to go home and we will continue this tomorrow. Auggie, I'm going to go home and so can you." Joan finished.

"Rodger that." Auggie said, hanging up.

Joan looked at the clock. 4:45 pm. She never leaves work this early, but she wanted to run to the food store and get home in time to make dinner, so it will be ready by 6:30.

They took separate cars to work today because Arthur had an early meeting, so Joan quickly called Arthur to let him know she was heading out. She then got into her car and drove to the grocery store.

She pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. She clicked the button on her car keys and heard her door lock. She went to the seafood section and got a pound of fresh shrimp. She then went to the bakery and got a loaf of Italian bread. She also got ingredients to make a lava cake, Arthur's favorite. Once she paid for the groceries, she went out to her car. She put the groceries in the trunk of her shiny black BMW and then got in. She pulled out of the spot and drove home.

Once she pulled into her garage and walked inside, she set the groceries down on the counter. She put the shrimp into the refrigerator and started on the cake.

She continued to make the cake and then made the shrimp. She heard the garage door open and she knew Arthur was home. He walked in and walked over to her. He pulled her in for a hug and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

She smiled into his neck, "I love you too." He kissed her cheek and looked at the counter.

"This all looks amazing." Arthur said.

Joan smiled, "It's almost ready."

"I'm going to go change and then I'll be back down." Arthur said.

"Okay," Joan said.

She continued to cook and set the table. When Arthur came back down, he was in a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

She stood there and watched him. She smiled. She loved the way that he looked in his casual clothes. "What are you starring at?" Arthur asked as he smiled.

"You," she said with a smile as she walked over to him. He sat down on the couch and she sat down next to him. He put his arm around her and pulled her down, so she was laying on his chest. He then kissed her hair. She turned, now laying in his lap, she looked up at him and smiled.

"Don't be nervous about tonight. Aaron wants to meet you." Arthur said. "Everything will be just fine. We are going to do this together. Okay."

The timer went off and Joan just nodded as she sat up, "Let me get dinner on the table."

Arthur stood up with Joan and followed her into the kitchen. He helped her put everything on the dining room table before pulling her chair out for her to sit down. She smiled softly and said, "Thank you."

Arthur went back into the kitchen to get a bottle of wine and a wine glass along with a shorter glass for his bottle of scotch. He sat down and opened the bottle of wine for Joan and poured her a glass and then opened his bottle of scotch and poured himself a glass.

They ate pretty quietly and finally Arthur said, "Joan, I know that you are nervous, but there is no reason to be. You need to be the strong woman that I know that you are for Aaron. This is not about either of us tonight. It is about him. We are only doing this because he asked for you. If he hadn't, this would never have happened."

"I know." she said quietly. They ate in almost silence and when they were finished, Joan got up and began to take the dishes to the kitchen.

"Let's get that later." Arthur said, "I don't want it to get too late to call."

Joan smiled worriedly. He put his arm around her waist, "You will be fine. We need to be strong for Aaron."

Joan nodded, "I know. I'm just nervous. The fact that I'm nervous is making me more nervous because I am never worried."

Arthur smiled, "You are nervous because he is our biological child and you have a connection. I know that you felt this when you saw him in that classroom. I could see it on your face when you came home. You have a connection and it is making you feel this way."

Joan looked at Arthur and said, "Ok, I think that I'm as ready as I'm going to be. Let's go call."

Arthur smiled and held Joan tighter as they walked back into the living room. Joan sat down on the couch and Arthur picked up the file sitting on the coffee table before sitting down next to Joan. He out his arm around her and took out his black iPhone. He opened the file and dialed the number printed on the page.

He put it on speaker. "Hello?" answered somebody after 3 or 4 rings.

"Hello, may I please speak to Peter Waltz?" Arthur said.

"That's me. Who is calling?" Peter said.

"Well, I don't know how to say this." Arthur paused, "But this is Arthur Campbell. I don't know if you remember my wife Joan, and I. Well, we weren't married at the time."

"The Arthur Campbell?" Peter said softly.

Arthur laughed. "Yes, the Arthur Campbell. My wife and I have wanted to call for awhile now, but we didn't know how you would take it."

"Oh, we have actually been trying to track you two down. Wait a minute, let me go get Kari." Peter put the phone down and yelled, "Kari. Will you please come up here?"

He put the phone back up to his ear and said, "Can you hold on for a second? I want to tell Kari what is going on."

Arthur answered, "Of course."

Arthur took the phone away from his ear and hugged Joan.

"You need to tell them." Joan said.

"Tell them what?" Arthur asked.

"That I went to Aaron's school. That I met him." Joan said.

"Ok. I'll tell them. Don't worry."

He put the phone back up to his ear and waited until he heard a woman's voice. "Hello?"

"Kari?" Arthur responded, "Arthur Campbell. I believe that we met when Aaron was first born and I know that you remember my wife, Joan."

"Of course. Aaron has been asking a lot about you two. He really wants to meet you guys. As his mother, I want him to be happy and I think that this may be the only way to make that happen. Can we set up a time for you two to meet him?" Kari finished.

"Well," Arthur started. "That is something that I wanted to talk about." He paused, "Joan has been really upset lately too, and all she wanted to do was meet him, so we started to research and found his school. Then Joan asked her boss about going to his school to talk about the world bank. She met him, but he didn't know who she was."

"So that was her. I had a feeling that it could have been her when Aaron came home and told me, but I wasn't positive." Kari said. Joan smiled.

"So, today is Friday." Arthur said, almost to himself, "Can we try to get together tomorrow at some point? Does that work?"

Kari took a moment to think, "I think that works."

"Okay, do you want to meet at our house around noon." Arthur asked.

"Sounds perfect." Kari replied.

Joan mouthed something to Arthur. He said, "Oh, and Kari..."

"Yes?" She answered.

"Maybe you shouldn't tell Aaron that he already met Joan. Maybe let us explain why she didn't tell him who she was?" Arthur asked.

"Okay," she replied, "I'll see you tomorrow, Arthur, and tell Joan I said hello."

"Will do. Bye." Arthur said before he hung up the phone.

"That went well," Joan said, smiling.

"Like I told you it would." Arthur said, kissing his wife's cheek.

He got up and began to clean up the dishes. She followed him and put the plates and silverware in the dishwasher as he washed the pot.

They finished cleaning and went upstairs. They both got undressed and got ready for bed. Joan put on a silk pajama set and Arthur wore only underwear. They got into bed, Joan cuddling up to Arthur, her soft, blonde curls, resting on her shoulders.

"Goodnight." Joan said as she kissed Arthur.

"Goodnight." Arthur responded.

She lay her head on his chest and they both drifted off to sleep.

She rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 9:00. She jumped, and woke Arthur up. "Arthur, we never told anybody at work that we weren't coming in today."

Arthur sat up, reaching for his phone. "It's ok, I'll just call now." He dialed the number and put the phone up to his ear. "Midge, it's Arthur, Joan and I will not be coming into work today." He paused, "Umm, yes, please push that meeting until Monday. Oh, and will you please put me through to Auggie's office. Thank you." He paused. "Hello Auggie, it's Arthur." He paused again, "I know Joan isn't there, she's at home with me. We aren't coming in today, so if you could please take care of anything that needs to be done today, we would both appreciate that." He paused again, "Yes, everything is okay here." Arthur laughed, "Alright Auggie, and if you need anything, you can just call us." He paused again, "Okay, bye."

He hung up and looked at Joan. "All taken care of. Let's get everything ready for today."

Joan nodded and said, "I'm going to jump into the shower, that way I will have time to blow dry and straighten my hair before getting ready."

"Alright, I'm going to make sure that everything is straight downstairs." Arthur said.

Joan smiled as she walked into the bathroom. She got into the shower. Once she got out, she wrapped herself in a large, soft towel. She dried off her blond, wavy locks. She walked out of the bathroom and into her closet. She got out a pair of dark jeans and a pretty purple blouse.

She got all ready to see Aaron and then she walked downstairs.

**AN: I hope that you guys liked it! I have a ton of schoolwork right now, so I am not positive when I will be able to update this or any other stories. I have a lot of ideas for new stories and new chapters, but I just don't have a lot of time to write. I'll try to update as soon as possible. Again, please review and give me feedback **


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